Major fire at Chandigarh's Dadu Majra waste dumping ground; locals inconvenienced

Sandeep Rana

Chandigarh, April 6 

A major fire broke out at the Dadu Majra waste dumping ground on Wednesday leading to inconvenience to locals.

According to the firemen, the fire broke out in the wee hours of Wednesday and is still continuing.

The fire department has pressed into service nine fire tenders. 

However, there is no respite from the fire. The firemen said the reason behind the fire could not be ascertained. They said the fire is so big that it is expected to continue tonight as well.

Due to the fire, a thick layer of smog was witnessed in the neighbouring sectors.

Dadu Majra resident and president of Joint Action Committee on dumping ground, Dyal Krishan, said, “We continue to cough and have been severely inconvenienced. Arrangements should be made to control the fire and to remove this dumping ground.”

Commuters also had a tough time as the police had put up barricades outside the dumping ground road to divert traffic. The commuters had to take alternative routes to reach their destinations.

Crores have been spent on several projects here for the past many years, but there is no respite. Chandigarh Smart City Limited had earlier given the tender of bio-mining half the dumping ground. The work was to be completed in 18 months, but the deadline expired long ago and the work is still on.

While for the second half of the dumping ground, the work is yet to be allotted. The MC has faltered in managing the processing plant which lies across the road.

It has been three years since the MC took over the processing plant from JP group. However, the MC failed to upgrade the technology to process the waste. And locals have no choice but to put up with foul smell.